Brick-machine



l J. A. REEDER. Brick-Machine.

Patented Mar. 9', 1880.

WITNBSSES di/mb@ NVENTUR: l

NHS.

N-FETERS, Pacto*Ll'masmwm-WAsnmawN. D, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES A. REEDER, OF GORINTH, MISSISSIPPI.

BRICK-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 225,418, dated March 9, 1880..

Application filed July 2, 1879.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, J AMES Asn REEDER, of Corinth, in the county of Alcorn and State of Mississippi, have invented a new and Improved Brick-Machine, of which the following is a specification.

Figure l is a plan of the machine. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on line y y, Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation on line z z, Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple and effective machine for molding and pressing bricks.

The invention consists in combining, with a briclrmachine plunger, graduated arms to raise and lower it, for the purpose of regulating the quantity of clay that enters the mudbox, as hereinafter described.

In the drawings, A represents the horizontal frame, on the side timbers of which are the u strips a', which are grooved on their upper faces and vertically adjustable by the setscrews b; or wheels may be set under the mold-bed to run on tracks on the side timbers. Set upon these strips is the mold-bed B, that holds the molds C. Fixed between and supported by the standards D is the mud-box E, into the top of which is fitted the plunger F, and projecting upward from the plunger are the uprights G, united at the top by a crossy beam, H, in the center of which is screwed the rod I, that passes up through the top K of the frame and has coiled around it the spring L, that holds the plunger up or restores it to its elevated condition after it has been drawn down and released by the foot-lever M, by which it is made to press the clay into the molds; ,or a spring may be applied above or below the levers to raise the plunger. Fixed to the rear of the mudfbox is a horizontal shelf, N, and above it an opening, O, extending the width of the box. On a level with this shelf is placed the mud-mill P, (shown in dotted lines,) which delivers its contents into the box through the opening O. The cross-bars c of the mud-box are of a triangular section,'with bases broader than the dividing-bars a of the mold, above which they rest, and they are so constructed that the clay maybe forced over and between them into the molds without scraping or rubbing off the sand with which the molds are lined or dusted.

'Io operate the machine, the mold-bed, carrying the molds, is passed under the mud-box by moving the hand-lever Q in the direction opposite to that show n in the drawings. The clay is then introduced through the opening 0 into the box, and a foot applied to the lever M, which may be provided with two arms, f f', united by a cross-bar, g', as shown, or be arranged in some other convenient manner to force the plunger down upon the clay and press it into-the molds, and the back strip, h', of the plunger at this part of the operation closes the opening O against farther ingress of clay from the mill. When sufficient pressure has been exerted upon the clay in the box the mold-bed is withdrawnr by the reverse action of the lever Q, and the molds removed through the side of the bed, another set of molds are put in their place, and the work proceeded with as before. The lower front edge of the mud-box serves to cut or smooth off the faces of the shapes in the molds as they are withdrawn from beneath the box, and this edge is usually provided with a sharp iron strip for this purpose.

Should the mold-bed swell from dampness and lit too tightly under the mud-box the strips a. may be lowered by the set-screws b.

The plunger also is usually pierced with several holes, closed with valves on the under side, so that when it is withdrawn upward the entrance of air through the holes will make it easily detachable from the clay beneath.

This machine may be cheaply constructed, and is simple and effective in its parts. In one of ordinary size a pressure `of about five hundred pounds may be easily brought upon the molds by the foot-lever, and from fifteen to twenty thousand bricks manufactured by it in a day. It molds a sand brick of tempered clay harder than is done by hand and with the use of much less sand, and it also makes a more perfect brick, owing to the fact that the great pressure put upon them lls the cor- 11ers of the molds most perfectly, and the molds graduated arms by which it is raised or lowshed the bricks or shapes easily7 from the fact ered, for the purpose of regulating the quan- 1o that the sand is not rubbed from the molds tity of mud that enters the mud-box.

While they are being filled.

5 Having thus fully described my invention7 JAMES ASA REEDER' I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Witnesses: Patent- WALKER LYNN7 The combination7 with the plunger, of the R. B. ALLEN. 

